It's time to offer you a blog from two of our Pathfinder Society lodges in different parts the world. With the soon-to-be-released Hebrew and Spanish versions of the Pathfinder rulebooks, organized play should see growing activity in both regions. With that impending growth, I asked our venture-captains to write a short summary of Pathfinder Society play in their region.
First, I present Yehuda Halfon's report on Pathfinder Israel.
Hello all! My name's Yehuda Halfon, and I am the VC of Israel. This is the story of our local Pathfinder Society lodge.
About a year ago, I listened to Happy Jacks RPG Podcast, a podcast that talked about PFS. That's how I first learned that Pathfinder Society scenarios can also be played in stores and online, not just at a convention. I started looking for PFS games around my area, but I couldn't find any. After a short conversation with a friend, Eran Aviram (now the venture-lieutenant of London for the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild), I decided to start a local lodge myself.
In April 2014, we participated in our big convention, Giborim ("Heroes" in Hebrew). We had 2 tables, where we ran Destiny of the Sands, parts 1 and 2. The feedback was amazing, everyone liked it, and asked for more. We did just that.
Since then we have had a presence in every convention in Israel, big or small. We started with two tables and have expanded to 18 tables at the most recent convention this past October at Icon, Israel's largest sci-fi and fantasy gathering. We also started forming regular groups in several stores around the country, such as the successful comic book store Comikaza 2.0. Thanks to my amazing VL and walking Pathfinder encyclopedia, Yotam "Defiler" Avni, we've expanded our reach beyond the center of the country, and we're running PFS games in the north as well.
In order to make PFS more approachable to the Hebrew-speaking crowd, Eran, Yotam and I are working as the translators of the Hebrew edition of Pathfinder for the local publisher, Monkey Time. We're using the new translated materials when updating our growing site, pathfinder.org.il.
We're working to gather all of the Israeli Pathfinder players and GMs together to form a big community for all Pathfinder games, including the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and Pathfinder Society Organized Play. You can also check us out at our Facebook group!
What's next for us? Well, this April we're planning a huge launch event for the Hebrew edition of Pathfinder as part of Bigor, one of Israel's largest conventions. With the help of Monkey Time, we're going to celebrate the new RPG, along with our one-year anniversary of PFS in Israel!
Yehuda Halfon
Venture-Captain, Israel
Next, I present Miguel Rosales's report on Pathfinder Mexico.
Hi! I am Venture Captain Miguel Rosales from Tijuana, Mexico. Let me tell you all the awesomeness of the Pathfinder Society in Mexico, including the Tijuana RPG scene!
In Tijuana, we have a large community of really cool people called Tijuana RPG. We gather in a store, which also serves as the headquarters of all geeky stuff happening in town. With the help of my good friend and venture-lieutenant, Antonio Argueta, and with the help of many other friends, we have founded an excellent Pathfinder community.
We are still growing and currently have 60 players. We also have our own annual RPG convention, where Pathfinder is the highlighted event, on the border of the U.S. and Mexico. I invite everyone to join us and experience Pathfinder Society with the Mexican people. We are very excited of all the new things planned for our lodge in 2015.
This year will be our third convention in a row and we hope to reach 300 attendees this year. It is also completely free. Any player, gamemaster, venture-captain, or venture-lieutenant is welcome to play or run a table at our conventions. We would be honored to have visitors from the other side of the border join as both players and GMs.
Tabletop RPG's are not popular in this part of the world and that's where we come in. We are working hard to promote this game because we love it, have a lot of fun, and make new friends. With the new Spanish language rulebooks, we hope to see continued growth. This is our favorite sport, and we will make it grow. We also have plans to kickoff for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game OP. We are looking for some volunteers to help run that, and if interested, please contact me.
I know there are people playing in others parts of Mexico. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any committed organized play happening in any other region. If anyone is interested in starting up Pathfinder Society where you live in Mexico, please contact me.
See ya around adventurers, and don't hesitate to come and visit us on this side of the border.
Miguel Rosales
Venture-Captain, Mexico
Thank you to all of the VCs and VLs for kickstartng awesome PFS Lodges in Isreal and Mexico. I look forward to the additions of new venture-captains and venture-lieutenants in other regions in both of these countries and watching their continued growth with Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Keep up the awesome work!
Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
